The Egyptian people have been protesting continuously for over two years. They are trying. They are trying the patience of everyone is what they're trying. They're trying to...I don't think they know what they're trying to do. They don't like the old Egypt, where the old keeps getting more recent. They're against old. "First he goes, then we think," said Egyptian protester Mina George of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. That could have been said, and surely was, about Morsi, will be said of Adly Mansour and the military. They got that backwards, certainly. Maybe what Egyptians are trying to do is think. Maybe that's what they want. They are thinking, even "First he goes, then we think" is thought. It's thought in action. They have thought, "The tourism-based economy is in ruins" and they have gone on protesting, knowing that that has devastated tourism and the economy. Maybe what Egyptians want is to protest. Maybe that's all they want. That doesn't seem like it can possibly be true. More thought without action before thought in action seems self-evident. They don't know what they want. A new society somehow. They don't know what that new society should be. The visions of the new society are incoherent when they are articulated, and no one wants to compromise. My own exasperation has been replaced by worry, confusion and awe. Yes, awe. I am in awe today that however incoherent this has been an incoherence fueled by passionate effort. They care deeply. I, at least, can find common ground with them on that. I hope the effort continues, I hope they don't give up on trying. The past is discouraging. Maybe they're thinking. Maybe they're not; Maybe they're just protesting. Whatever they're doing, they're trying harder than I expected and they're not giving up. I am in awe of their effort even as I am not impressed with what they're doing in that effort. Effort may be the thinnest sliver of silver linings but it is all we have right now. So, keep at it Egyptians, it's about the only arrow you've got left in your quiver.
